Planting mechanism



L. E. WATERMAN. PLANTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAYII. 1911.

1A34 575 v Patented Nov. 7, 1922.

2 SH ETSSHEET I.

yk% 1 7 @MMW A TTOR/VEKS L. E. WATERMAN.

PLANTING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED MAYH, 1917.

1,434,575. I Patented Nov. 7, 1922..

2 SHEETS-SHEE1 2.

Patented Nov. i922.

STATES Ali-J LEV-71S E. VTATERMAN, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGIQTOR TD EMERSON-BRANTING- HAM COMPANY, 03? ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

PLANTING MECHANISM.

Original application filed January 12, 1917, Serial No. 142,013. Divided and this application filed May 11 T 0 all whom it may concern lie it known that 1. Lewis E. Vdivrnnrmrr, a. citizen of the United States. residing at Rockford, in the county of lVinnebago and State of lllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Planting Mechanism, of which the following a specification.

This invention relates to planting mechanism especially adapted :for planting seed potatoes. and is division of my application Serial No. 1.42.013, filed Jan. 112, 1.91.7, for improvements in potato planters. The present invention pertains more particularly to the construction and control. of the iurrow opener or plow and the covering; disks of the planting mechanism. and further relates to the devices operated by and through the agency of the mechanism for operating said furrow openers.

The invention contemplates. primarily, the provision of new and useful planting mechanism of the character described. with the view to providing a more convenient and practical control of the various operating parts so that the planting of seed potatoes may be carried out in a most effectual manner.

in "furtherance of this general object. I have provided improved means for simul taneously raising and lowering the furrow opening plow and covering disks so that the latter are operated by the ili'ormer and these parts are automatically locked in raised position upon being elevated thereto and cause the potato-dropping mechanism to beput out of operation. I have also designed to provide an entirely foot-operated control for quickly and conveniently performing; these operations so that the operators attention need not be distracted from manage ment of the horses.

In further connection with the improved footcontrol means just referred to, I have provided an improved marker which is also automatically raised by said means when the. furrow opening plow is raised. and have also provided means whereby the clutch con trolling; the operation of the seed dropping mechanism will be thrown in and out by respectively lowering and raising said furrow opening plow. Thus it will be evident that the several devices of a potato planter which ordinarily require special attention when Serial No. 167,995.

turning the planter at the end of each row, 5 and necessitating the use of either one or both hands by the operator to put them out of operation, are controlled. entirely by the simple operation of one foot lever; thereby allowing the operator to more expeditiously 6 and correctly make the turn. I

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a potato planter embodying my improvements, the near wheel being removed and the iurrow i opener and covering disks being shown in a lowered position; i

2 is a side elevation somewhat similar to l 1g. 1, showlng' the position the parts assume when the furrow opener is raised;

Fig. 3 is a plan view or my improved planting mechanism illustrating fully only those portions to which this invention par ticularly relates;

4 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line H of Fig. 3; and

Figs. 5 and 6 are vertical sectional views taken substantially on the lines 5-5 and 6-6 of Fig. 1.

In this invention, which relates mainly to the construction and operation of the iurrow opener and covering disks and to dcvices such as a marker and a clutch for putting the seed dropping mechanism into and out of operation. I have deemed it necessary to illustrate in the drawings only such parts of the potato planter, which is fully shown in my above mentioned copending application, as will sufiice for a clear un:ierstandingof my present improvements. ience it will. he noted. that the potato-dropping mechanism per se and the driving means are not shown in t e drawings accompanying this application. A brief description will be given, however. of the parts illustrated and of their generalfunction in a potato planter.

The carrying wheels 7 support a main drive shaft 8 upon which is mounted a frame designated generally by character 9, which also constitutes a potato magazine. Vvithin this magazine and mounted upon and revolving about the shaft 8, is a potato dropping mechanism (not shown) which is adapted to successively pick single seed potatoes. from the magazine and deposit or drop them into a down spout ll which. guides the seeds into a furrow formed by a furrow opener or plow 12. The seed p0tatoes are supplied to the magazine from a hopper 13 and the seed dropping mechanism is put into and out of operation by means of a clutch actuated by an oscillatable part 14, the speed of operation of the seeddropping mechanism being governed by av change speed mechanism designated generally by character 15, all of which. are fully illustrated and described in my co;-pendi'ng application mentioned above. Honnds16 in the form of angle iron bars are bolted. to the forward side portions of the main frame or magazine 9 and have interposed therebetween and bolted thereto a tongue 17. Suitable draft or hitch devices maybe applied to the tongue as is well understood in the art. In the type of potato planter to which my present invention relates single seed potatoes are successively dropped atuniform intervals into a down spout which guides them into 'furrow formed by a furrow opener or plow as mentioned above. The seed thus deposited is then covered by covering disks drawn at the rear of the planting mechanism and arranged to close the fur row and properly embed the seed in the ground. It is desired to simultaneously lower and raise the down spout, furrow opener and covering disks when commencing and discontinuing the planting operation at the beginning and end of a row and further to simultaneously put the seed dropping mechanism into andout of operation and also to move into and out of operative position a marker for marking the ground so that the operator may properly guide the team when planting the next row. My invention contemplates'the control of all of these devices by means of a single foot lever which, when actuated, will raise from operating position the down sprout, furrow open ing plow and covering disks and also the marker and will discontinue the operation of the seed dropping mechanism. VVhen the lever has been thus actuated, the parts will be automatically locked by a simple device in their respective inoperative positions and the operator may, at will, release the parts from such position by simply actuating a foot stirrup, thereby putting all the devices into operation again. It will thus be seen that by means of these improvements which will be presently fully described the driver of my potato planter may expediently operate all of the devices necessary during the operation of planting and that such operation requires only the use of the operators feet. Thus the operators attention. and the free use of his hands may be given. to guiding the horses so that accurate plant-- ing may be obtained.

Coming now to my present improvements, the furrow opening plow 12located forwardly of the down spout 11 mentioned above, is rigidly secured to the forward end of a frame formed by a pair of rearwardly diverging side bars 18 pivotally secured at their rear ends to the main frame by means of bolts The down spout i1 interposed between these side bars is connect-ed thereto by bolts 21 and is further held in position by a brace bar 22 connected at its forward end to the plow 12. The furrow-opening plow as thus mounted is capable of being swung vertically with respect to the main frame. A pair of disk covering shovels 23 may be suitably mounted on a frame 24: so as to be capable of proper angular adjustment with respect thereto, the frame being in the form of forwardly extending side bars pivota lly mounted intermediate their ends at 25 on the side bars 18 and extending forwardly beneath laterally projecting lugs 26 on the main frame. The covering shovel frame is under the constant influence of contractile springs 27 arranged. to urge the disks into the ground. As shown, these springs are adjustably connected at one end to a fixed plate 28, held by the bolts 19 and at their opposite ends by links 29 passing over the lugs 26 and pivotally connected to the forward ends of the bars 24. When the plow and covering shovels are in the ground (in which position they are not shown in the drawings) the forward ends of the bars 24 will be slightly spaced below the lugs 26 so that the covering shovels are free to move vertically, being held in lowered position under the influence of the springs 27. The covering shovels are, therefore, yieldingly urged into the ground to properly turn into the furrow the loose soil flanking the same, and when passing over irregular ground or obstructions of any kind the covering disks are free to rise and pass over such obstruc-- tions. When the )low 12 is raised the forward ends of the bars 24 will abut agaii'ist the undersides of the lugs 26. thereby cansing as the plow is continued to be raised, the shovels to be swung upwardly on the pivots 25 so as to be raised completely from the ground to the elevated position shown in Fig. 2.

Foot-operated means is employed for ac complishing this raising movement and provided for automatically locking the plow and covering shovels in raised position upon being elevated thereto and for simultaneously disengaging the clutch in the driving connection to the picker arms or seed dropping mechanism mentioned above. An upright bail 81, the arms of which pass through openings 32 in the forward extension of the main frame, is pivotally connected at it lower ends by bolts 33 to the plow 12. The arms of the bail on their rear sides are each formed with a notch 34 (Fig. 2) sothat when the plow is raised these notches may be engaged by the fixed abutments 35 on the main frame to lock the plow in raised 3101. toot end or th t s hich the bull, v nil t Wardl i and die 'ed. 'li'oin allotments 35. Q's. second t 1' side of the b '1; thereon i e acn- S? o ll; hereinsftei. pivotal-y limited in bracket '-l=c hounhs l6 is oro- 'v 'ded W' j-n'elrlly curd do l eztencin arm 'plvotelly connected ll mezrns of :1 short link 43 to the orward on l on" :1. short projecting: :e' l oored to the bo l Th arm. to cause a reurwnrm when is SiWlllf;

' the .lGVGZZ' 3f] raise the plow, and this btf re'ztrwerdly into e1 easement inents will be loclteo th when the notches -l -lreach merits Will be obvious. ally mounted on-the ho! tion 0%? the lev r 39 is at its upper end to the clutch sh 1.1g rod and oo, 46 connecting; said lever 4 frame tends to urge this shown in Figs. f2 end F- lever 39 is swung torwaiv plow and covering dislt' che actuated to sengage t:

drives the seed dronpin in it is desired o lower the clur:

Zoned to."

disks and engj t operator Will press Wardly thereby l from locked 1309' to move under th cow crimp; disks to Working position an adjustable port I by the bail egainst secured to the torwer the boil e parts;

trame. As shown in. Fi not fully lowered to its hence, the adjustable stop limits the Working deptn z not reached the fixed part 7. plow being; free to lower until the abn against the part By edjnmuo' e bolt 40 it will be rnenltest that the worlrme' depth of the tools be varied.

A nmrking attachment is also proyidel tor marking the ground for guidance in planting? the next adjacent row. This attechmcnt consists of a marking; bar 415% equipped at its outer end with umrlzer and being suitably mounted that it may be raised and lowered from operative position and moved to cit; or side or the planter for marking on both sides thereof. A, suite able A saddles or pro ect:

ieuth. outward to l .1 1 Fig. 4 the e t behind 3th 53 s to The marker is will he Fl 1 llSMl will rmse the merker from the round through t l the cha n cc ec ion it t e to secure the war-:1. 1. t W1 0vm n l 1 Lion to 21 W1 01. new OQElL-ho rmi'n me 21) 51 because a forward pull on the latter would have a tendency to ptev -u; 1t from being erly eno; .gged \Vl. V, the ebu cents T on oi a. potato planter 0t ell. known practice to u n the planter about reached to comto the position the furrow and autoopeninx As a :1 has .7 nmln e turn and or L hi. ention need be in no Way (llfilTflCliQCl 110111 the guidc When the planter has been turned and the planting is resumed the dit'iver may out all of the woffltlnp; parts into operation n by simply pressin forwardly on the :too. stirrup 36. This diseng es the 'tsloclred position. allowing" the ing' tn to its supporting means on the opposite side of the planter in the manner described above. and when the parts are put into operation the marker will be lowered to operative position as just mentioned. It will be noted that when the parts have been moved to inoperative position the marker bar while being lifted from the ground will not be brought within reach of the operator; The operator may, however, swing the marker into reach by pressing downwardly on the chain 55 intermediate its length with his foot in a quick movement which will swing the marker bar inwardly against the hounds. The operator may then reach forwardly and very easily remove the marker and place it on its opposite saddle and swing it outwardly 'to a position limited by the chain.

It is believed that the foregoing conveys a clear understanding of the objects of the invention prefaced above, and it should be understood that various changes might be made in the arrangement and construction of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims I claim;

1. In a planter, the combination of a wheel" supported frame, a seed-dropping mechanism thereon, a plow located forwardly of the dropping mechanism and movable vertically with respect to the frame, an upright part connected with the plow and co-operating with he frame, a lever, means operable between the lever and plow and said part for raising the plow and imparting a side thrust to said part, and means against which said part is urged by said side thrust when the plow is elevated and with which said part is engageable to automatically lock the plow in elevated position.

2. In a planter, the combination of a frame, a seed-dropping device thereon, a plow located forwardly of the seed-dropping device and pivotally mounted on the rear portion of the frame so that the plow may swing vertically, covering disks located at the rear portion of the frame, a frame upon which the coverin disks are mounted and which is pivotally mounted on the plow-car rying frame and engageable with a part fixed with respect to the main frame to cause the covering-dish frame to be rocked on its pivot when the plow is raised thereby rais the covering C SlTS, meai'is for yieldingly urging; the covering dis is in a downwardly direction, and means for raising the plow-carrying; frame. 1

3; In a planter, the combination of a main fran'ie, a plow-carrying frame pivotally mounted on the rear portion of the main frame, an upstanding bail mounted on the forward portion of the plow-carrying frame and passing above the main fame, a second bail connected with the first bail and engageable with a part fixed to the main frame when the plow is raised to thereby hold the plow in raised position, and a marker mounted on the main frame and connected to the first bail so as to be raised therewith.

4-. In alanter, the combination with a main frame equipped with a seed-dropping device, of a frame pivotally mounted on t 119. main frame and equipped with a furrowopening plow arranged so as to be vertically movable and to form a furrow into which the seed may be dropped, a frame equipped with a covering disk or the like arranged for covering the seed after it has been deposited in the furrow, the coverin dislr frame being pivotally mounted on the plow frame, means yieldingly urging the covering dish frame in a direction to move its disk downwardly into operative position, means for raising and lowering the plow frame whereby to raise and lower the pivotal mounting of the covering dish frame, and means for causing the covering disk frame to raise bodily with the plow frame after the same has been raised predetermined extent and for allowing the coverin dish frame to move independently of the plow frame under the influence of said yielding pressure means after the plow frame has been lowered into working; posh tion.

LENIS E. WVATERN AN. 

